#Saudi, #UAE businesses battle cash crunch despite anti-coronavirus stimulus - Reuters

Saudi, UAE businesses battle cash crunch despite anti-coronavirus stimulus - Reuters:

Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are spending tens of billions to prop up their economies during the coronavirus crisis and oil price slump but the scaling back of state projects is blunting the impact.

The pain felt by the tourism, retail, hospitality and logistics sectors due to global travel disruptions and closure of most public venues is spreading to the contracting and oil services industries in the Arab world’s biggest economies.

Saudi Arabia last week announced suspension of work on the third phase of a $100 billion expansion of the Grand Mosque in Mecca over coronavirus fears. Two days earlier, construction giant Saudi Binladin Group said in an internal note, seen by Reuters, that two employees on the project had been infected.

Riyadh-based MOBCO Civil Construction sent a memo to staff in the Saudi cities of Riyadh, Mecca and Medina notifying them that it plans to cut wages between 25% to 50% due to “unforeseen circumstances of COVID-19”, according to the internal document dated March 25, which was seen by Reuters.